Archive for February, 2011

If rumors are correct, UNCC will name Wake Forest assistant Brad Lambert the school’s first football coach. The parallels with Major are interesting — and maybe concerning. Are we certain AD Judy Rose knows that UNCC is not a small private school in a very small, non-professional market?

Major, a Purdue grad, came to UNCC from Xavier Ohio State, before that Xavier Ohio State. Lambert’s bio reads Wake, and before that Georgia. Only a stint at Marshall from 1990 to 95 hints at the size and type of program Lambert, a Kansas St. product, will have to construct — from scratch — at UNCC. As UNCC is neither a small, private school with a devoted fan base nor a massive public athletics behemoth, you have to wonder about the experience profile.

Even more so, a defensive coach trends against high-flying 1-AA offenses, the mark of successful programs at that level. Emphasizing defense is a bold (?) way to go for a program that is trying to attract attention. And it must be said that Lambert’s best Wake defenses were the product of many years of red-shirting and a ton of experience — two things UNCC gridders will not have for years to come.

Still, as important as his personal qualifications might be, much more will be told by the staff Lambert assembles. That is really the tricky part in getting the Niners headed in the right direction.

Like Major, the top gig at UNCC would be Lambert’s first as a head coach.

GOP state Senate honcho Phil Berger is actually floating the idea that businesses might have to pay higher unemployment taxes because the state of North Carolina is dead broke and owes the feds $2.6b. for benefits the state didn’t not have the money to pay out — but did anyway. Follow that?

To fight unemployment, you’d tax jobs?

More basically, two wrongs make a right? How about telling the feds to go pound sand. Point to the millions in unfunded mandates the state catches and call that repayment of the trust fund loans. Anything but actually raising employment taxes in the face of a jobs deficit that has scarcely budged since the recession started.

I’ve got to believe that Mecklenburgers Bob Rucho and Thom Tillis are much too smart to follow Berger’s lead — or just have enough self-preservation instincts to run away from a terribly bad idea whose time will never come. Besides, almost two years agoit was clear the trust fund was in serious trouble — and only $470m. had been borrowed from the feds. You mean nothing has changed with Republican control of the General Assembly?

Bonus Doh: Think state entitlements are bad? Check out the federal situation. The US is on track to go broke in 2025.

Here’s a theory that is bouncing around — ha! — in hoops circles in NC which makes just a little too much sense to me.

Why is Michael Jordan so certain he can basically tank this season and still come out ahead? Because he knows that as an NBA icon, his franchise can never be contracted no matter how low it goes. But MJ will still lose a ton of money in the process, right? Not if the Bobcats benefit from contraction by landing Chris Paul.

While the parents of the men arrested — including one who was wounded by a Waka “security team” member — push from below on the question of just what the hell happened back on Februrary 15th in that car stereo parking lot, the NC Department of Justice is ducking inquiries about any role it may have in investigating the matter.

As we pointed out previously, state law does not allow for private armed security to work out of uniform. Then there is the matter of whether whomever who tossed off rounds to defend Waka Flocka are even licensed by the state to operate as private security — at all. And there is still the rather curious fact that the name and occupation of the shooter who wounded Antonio Stukes has not been reported.

Some speculate that is because the security detail was made up of off-duty Atlanta PD — quite the turn of events given Waka’s rap sheet at home, although he would seem to have a problem with cops in jurisdictions outside of Atlanta proper. That is one explanation. Another would be that the security detail and the shooter have ties to CMPD itself — or to private security firms associated with current or former CMPD brass. Frankly, who knows?

And that is problem. The state refuses to confirm or deny any investigation even though emails from CMPD officials indicate they were forwarding concerns about the license status of the detail to the state licensing board, which is a unit of DOJ.

This is not a very complicated matter. Either the security detail which cut loose with multiple shots on a busy Charlotte street was licensed to operate in the state or it was not.

The city of Charlotte relates that it does not have a copy of the details of the contract the city signed with the DNC over three weeks ago. Specifically, the letters of credit the host committee was to have secured by now.

Per city instructions, I have requested those details of the local host committee. Stay tuned.

Looks like the DNC and the Obama administration made the right call in terms of meta-message. St. Louis is losing population at an amazing rate. In short, the city is failing. Worse, a heavily unionized city is failing.

Not the image that the political party of labor unions wants to project to the world.

It is not teachers’ jobs vs. middle school sports. Cut 12 of Pete Gorman’s EdShed disciples making $100K each, bang there’s your $1.2m. Outsource everything — security, food service, transportation — there’s many times $1.2m. This is a cynical political negotiation position, not fiscal reality. It is designed to provoke, belittle, and ultimately flim-flam the conscientious and dedicated Lynne Sanders across the county into accepting a 10 to 20 percent property tax hike as uncorked by Jennifer Roberts last night.

Again, CMS teachers have been told not to talk about the costs of eliminating middle school sports under pain of losing their jobs — although a few brave souls are moving closer to blowing the whistle on this evil — and possibly illegal — stunt.

Single-family homeowners can now take their revals, look at the percentage increase in their valuations, and multiply your 2010 tax bill by that percentage increase. So if you paid $2500 in property tax, got a 10 percent reval increase, you are looking at a $250 increase in the bill you will get in October. Please make your checks payable to Jennifer Robert, care of Harry Jones.

See? Simple.

Likewise you folks who got 30, 60, or 90 percent increases. Paid $3000? Why then $5700 should be no problem. It is only $225 more a month, $51.92 a week, $7.39 a day — just 30 cents an hour! Are you telling me you cannot sacrifice 30 cents an hour for vital government services? What kind of selfish monster are you? How ignorant and out-of-touch can you be? Why, you must be a caveman — possibly a racist caveman at that.